China Buffet

The most disgusting buffet I have ever been to in my entire life and I LOVE Chinese food. This place is filthy, you have to get your own water, forks etc… The bathroom was so horrendous I didn’t even use it. This is by far the most ghetto Chinese place I’ve ever been to! Getting a refund on my money OH YEAH ITS PAY BEFORE YOU EAT LIKE WHAT THE FUCK?! No wonder!!!

This place brings to mind the Chinese buffets of yesteryear. Two medium bars with Chinese food and one or two American items, a simple fruit/​desert/​salad bar, and a soft serve ice cream machine. That’s it. No hibachi, no sushi — this is no «palace buffet» as they’re sometimes called. Judging from the building, this IS a buffet of yesterday — it looks like it hasn’t changed much in 20 or 30 years. Which is awesome, because every other buffet I’ve been to in awhile is a carbon copy of the «palace» model (see Sakura across the street).
This is two or three dollars cheaper, to start, and has pretty good food. The hot and sour soup was delicious, not goopy, just the right spicy, and even had those thin, long mushrooms in it that a lot of buffets leave out. The mainstays like chicken and broccoli, lo mein, etc. were all tasty. I’d say not quite as good as take-​out but close, and most buffets in my opinion are not as good as take-​out. They also had mussels in black bean sauce which were tasty, and salt and pepper shrimp which looked good but I didn’t have any.
And the soft serve! Practically every modern buffet has hard ice cream or ice cream treats now, almost none have soft serve. It was very good too, creamy and not the more icey/​watery kind you get from some machines. I hope this place lasts because as a cheaper, simpler alternative to the palace-​type places, it serves a purpose.

All you can eat buffet including drinks and dessert for $ 7.50! (Lunch price. Mon to Sat 11−4pm). So cheap that I’m not sure how they make money. For such great value I’m giving 5 stars.
Obviously the décor is nothing to write home about… a little grungy. Don’t take a girl here for a first date. :)

This is the lowest I can give. The food was stale specially the pineapples. Other foods were tasteless. I would never recommend this place.

The food was simply horrible! They looked, and tasted like reheated leftovers! I could not eat anything except the watermelon! This place does not even deserve one star! Will never come here again!

The food are fresh and good quality. Recommend for anyone wants to enjoy a Chinese buffet restaurant.

Friend canceled on me at the last minute and I found myself in College Park hungry… what to do? Look up restaurants on Unilocal of course!
First thing I found was a diner. While sitting in their parking lot reading reviews, I saw that there was a Chinese lunch buffet for only $ 7 which included a drink. Can’t spend less money than that except for eating at a 7 – 11, so I drove a few more blocks to China Buffet. The reviews were not high so I was going to take a look before paying.
Ok. Full parking lot in the front (17 parking spaces) so I try to park on the side street which said, «NO PARKING.» Now what? A back parking lot? WHOA! That has 20 parking spaces and that is full too. Seriously? 3:45pm on a Saturday afternoon and this place has a jammed packed parking lot? Over 35 cars? This must be the best buffet in the world!!! LOL
Finally find a spot and almost sprint inside to beat the 4pm dinner charge ($ 10 which includes a drink). I asked the guy at the front if I made it and he gave me the lunch price.
NOTE**If you don’t ask, then the answer is already NO! I bet if I had not said anything, he would have charged me the dinner price. He could have made an issue about this but he did not. Bonus for me!
This place was packed. Every table was full. Please stop reading here if you are going to be racially offended by what I write next… Every table was full of Spanish or African/​African American families. There were zero Asians and zero white people. There was a two top of Russian guys. I waited for a few minutes and scored a table.
By 4:30, the lunch crowd thinned out and two white guys came in. They were not together and they looked like locals who had been there before. Around 5pm (yes, I was still there!), people started coming in for dinner and by 5:45 (when I finally left) the place was ¹⁄₃ full.
Small buffet place and small buffet. Only 2 carts (not sure what they are called) of hot food which included 4 different soups (wonton, hot and sour, egg drop and seafood), spring rolls, fried dumplings, fried shrimp, fried wings, sweet and sour chicken, chicken nuggets, fries, white rice, fried rice, veggie lo mein, another noodle dish that I did not get to try because it was very popular, green beans, mushrooms, general tso’s chicken, beef with scallions (few scallions, lots of onions), chicken and broccoli, chinese bbq ribs w/​o the bones, plantains, fried tilapia on the bone and fried fish w/​o the bones.
The one cart with cold food had lettuce, cucumbers, olives, raisins, limes, oranges, vanilla pudding, chcocolate cake, vanilla roll cake, cookies, cantaloupe, fried doughnuts, canned peaches and pineapples. There is a soda machine that you also serve yourself. The best part is obviously the ice cream machine with vanilla, chocolate or swirl.
I spent almost 2 hours here because it took a while to get a seat and then I was busy taking pictures and writing notes about my food too. I loved the green beans, sauteed mushrooms and fried tilapia. I seriously could have just eaten plates and plates of just those. YUM!!! I picked out the wonton and added it to the hot and sour soup so I could try both. The soup was good and the wonton was really delicious! It was meaty and the pork was exactly like a meat dumpling should be.
I liked the plantains and lo mein too. The wings were on the smaller side and a little too heavily breaded for me. They were good though. The first time, I liked the beef with scallions (I love onions) but the second pass, the beef was a little tough. The fried dumplings were ok. I should have dipped them in soy sauce but I used sweet and sour instead. There was a ton of chicken with the brocolli and I could see that the seafood and veggies was picked through for the seafood. The shrimp is fried with the head on. It was ok but I felt I had eaten a lot of fried things so I did not get seconds. The tilapia was so good because of the soy marinade before they fry it. The other fried fish is probably better with tartar sauce, but I ate it plain. The rib meat was salty (weird since it is a sweet bbq sauce) and I didn’t like any of the desserts except the ice cream and oranges.
The buffet is pretty decent. For a $ 7 lunch, it is a great deal. If I was a college student or had young kids, I would definitely be here a couple times a month. If the buffet near my office would cut back their offerings and only charged $ 7 with a drink, I would probably be there once every 10 days. The food is flavorful, but after my 4^th diet coke, I figured out that there must be a lot of MSG… so be careful if you have an allergy.
**Funny thing. I was taking pictures and typing on my phone and at about 5pm, a man walked up to ask me what I thought about the food. He mentioned there was a larger buffet down the street and they could not decide which one to go to. I told him it was a good deal for $ 10 but that I would probably not come back because I don’t live near by.

I been coming here since 10 years. Food is always good and they are consistent with the food quality. Everybody should try this best Chinese buffet and their price is only $ 6.99 for so many varieties.

For $ 7 you’re getting pretty standard Chinese food. It’s not bad, but don’t expect to walk out of here feeling good.

For the actual nutritious food portion of a lunch or dinner, this buffet leaves a bit to be desired. But, oh my goodness, the dessert bar is incredible! I found myself giving up on their rices and noodle dishes after a couple of plates. But I engorged myself with sweets until I was ready to burst and still wanted more!
Whoever they have as a pastry chef is really outshining their cooks. Not that I expected much for the price. It’s less than $ 10 here for dinner and their lunch buffet is even less. And they have a good amount of options for vegetarians. But their noodles are bland and so is their rice. If I was just in the market for quick starches, it would suffice but I didn’t enjoy them.
But, being a big kid, I did enjoy the fact that I could supplement all of this with desserts ranging from soft serve ice cream and jello to intricate angel wing pastries (which dipped in the vanilla pudding they supplied were amazing). They also have swirl cake tubes which were five steps above anything Hostess ever made. Which might explain the noisy array of families in the crowded building. This is not the place to go for a quiet lunch or dinner for sure.
One other thing that was annoying was how inattentive the drink servers were. I saw giant pots of tea on many of our neighboring tables but the waitstaff seemed to ignore us while cleaning up. When I was finally able to wave someone down, the tea was good but it would have been better with lunch than with dessert. Even if it was practically one and the same for me.

My boyfriend and I just moved here less than a week ago, and found this right around the corner from our house, literally within walking distance! $ 6.95 for a lunch buffet, sounds too good to be true, right?
Exactly.
Where would you like me to begin?
When we got to the building, my boyfriend pointed out that place looked horrendous from the outside, but we decided to give it a shot anyways. When we went inside, the restaurant was packed. Got to be something worth all those people being there for right? Something didn’t sit right with me that you had to pay in advance before you eat, plus we were informed that the tip had to be included then and there as well. We were seated at a table close to the front, and we were very uncomfortable. Yes it was crowded, but I feel like they have the restaurant overly-​packed, tables only a few inches apart from each other. It felt more like a feeding trough. They also had signs in the restaurant stating not to waste food, or it would be an extra fee. Who does that?
When we finally got back to the food, we were disappointed. There were only 3 buffet tables of food, one of which was desserts. Not much of a variety, but again, at the price, you get what you pay for I suppose. I got the shrimp, sweet and sour chicken, General Tso’s chicken and fried rice, and this was the ONLY plate I got. I love General Tso’s, but this here was hard, bland, overly salted, and there was more grease swimming on my plate than there was sauce. The sweet and sour chicken wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t the best. And then we come to the shrimp. I thought it was impossible to go wrong with shrimp. They proved me wrong. It had appeared to be steamed shrimp, still in the shell, but when you picked it up, it practically dripped grease. Its sad to say that this was the best thing I ate at this pathetic hole in the wall. Make sure to grab PLENTY of napkins for these little shrimp. You got your own drinks and all, so I didn’t understand «Tip the waitress» when there wasn’t one. No fortune cookie was offered or anything.
If you enjoy Chinese food, or even have a decent taste in food, save your money and go elsewhere. It’s not worth it.

ALL U CAN EAT for just $ 6.95 per person at noon, including various kinds of seafood, meat and drinks! What can you ask more for this price!!! If you want something upscale, why not spend $ 50 at Ruth’s Steakhouse for just a piece of steak? Come on people!
In a nutshell, this place is definitely worth going at such a low price!

This place would be OK if you live nearby and just want to go to a buffet. It’s not the best place, but it’s cheap enough.
However, the last time I was in there, they had a guilt-​trip sign saying don’t forget to tip the staff which is why I don’t go anymore. Staff here doesn’t serve you at all – you even get your own fountain drink. This just seems like a thinly veiled attempt for the owners to try to cash in on the tipping culture in the US without understanding when you’re supposed to.

Average food, service and décor. I have only been there for lunch and although I would eat there again there are better places to go. Parking is tight.

Oh– where to start?
This is a fixed price buffet– $ 9.95 at dinnertime and cheaper for lunch. We were told to pay in advance… if we didn’t like it, what then, we asked? The answer was just an inscrutable smile from the young man at the cash register.
There was the smell of «fish» when we walked in– not a good sign.
On the wall next to the cash register was a hand drawn sign telling us in Spanish and English (but not Chinese) to «tip the waitresses» That seemed pretty cheeky to us. Even more cheeky was a similarly bilingual sign warning us not to «waste food» and threatening an additional charge if we did so. Pretty tacky. .
The food is western-​style «Chinese» food. Pretty bland, too. The General Tso’s Chicken was adequate, as were the lo mein and beef and scallions. There is quite a large selection and most of it is decent.
The idea is to take a plate and go select what you want. when you’re done with that plate full, the waitress takes the plate and you get another. Good, but right in the middle of the dining area we noted a tray table cart with tons of dirty dishes stacked two feet high, dirty glass ware and a bucket for garbage. It stayed there the whole time we were there, just a few feet from our table. I suppose they wait til the dishes get too high and just before they topple they take then to be washed. The floor was sticky in the dining area.
Half the staff was sitting in the table next to ours gossiping in very loud Chinese and directing comments to the waitresses who were working. That was kind of annoying as well.
To their credit, there was background music that was classical Chinese– nice.
So– overall, the annoying aspects of the place outweighed the decent food.

If you are looking for cheap AMERICAN style Chinese food, China buffet is for you! For $ 7, you get a very decent selection of food. Drink is included which is another plus. The restaurant is somewhat clean, with the exception of the bathrooms, which need some attention. As a frequent customer, I would say that the food is readily available, never had an instance where something ran out (like crab legs at higher priced buffets).
Taste wise, it’s Americanized, so if you are looking for authentic Chinese, go somewhere else. Stay away from the seafood (i.e. clams/​mussels), unless they are fried, or you WILL have a visit to the bathroom afterwards. Try the dessert doughnuts, they are sure to please you! You cannot go wrong with China Buffet for the price, but watch out for sketchy people. We had a random guy sit down at our table without even asking us if it was okay.

You really should try to avoid China Buffet.
They give you a lot of food! This food has several distinct qualities. Most importantly: it’s greasy, fried, and it’s not Chinese.
If you are easily pleased by extremely unhealthy food, and you have low health standards, China Buffet may work well for you. But it will not work for anyone else. I wouldn’t eat here if you’re a vegetarian. Food is easily mixed across their buffet style containers.
Yes, you get a lot of food for the price. It’s a buffet, and that’s how buffets work. But there are so many downsides.
Minimal parking at lunch. Not much room for seating, even though there are a lot of seats (it’s crowded). The food is tragic. Because it sits, the quality is already low, but it’s obvious that they don’t even make quality jello for dessert. I tried it and was quite surprised by how they could make jello bad. I didn’t try anything I enjoyed or if I began to enjoy it, I looked at its thick, greasy, fried layer on top, and lost my appetite.
Perhaps the funniest thing about China Buffet is that so much of the food is not Chinese, let alone authentic Chinese. There are chicken nuggets, plantains, the aforementioned jello… the list goes on.
What’s really sad in all of this is that China Buffet does not fare much better than other places in the College Park area and it really warps the scoring. Try not to come here if you can.

Found this place last week because I did not want to spend money parking around University of MD. All I wanted to do was grab something cheap to eat, open my netbook and do some homework for 1.5 hrs.
Found this place was packed with families… a medium size buffet… yeah I know. I’m not super thrilled about buffets, but Chinese buffet where you can pick from plenty of vegetarian choices is a winner.
I walked in, paid $ 9.90 and asked for the vegetarian options.
I filled my plate with noodles, snow peas, tofu stir fry, vegetable dumplins… and the last thing I piled was the fried rice (big mistake).
Sat down, ate without looking that the fried rice had eggs… my own fault… food was tasty a bit on the greasy side, but definitely plenty.
The family next to me piled on Alaskan crab legs, shrimp, and mussles… they made their money’s worth… and here I was with an all vegetarian plate… I walked out of that place thinking… I need to hit the seafood next time!!! (I’m pescetarian but I’ve been laying off shellfish)
3 hours later I broke out in itchy hives… yeah the eggs… not the place…
3 more days after healing… I went back!!!
Yeah I know… homework was due again… and I needed to eat… this time I had 2 plates… some crab legs. did not see the tools to crack them… so I ate them caveman style… LOL. my secod plate had lightly fried shrimp. mussles, lo mein noodles… I totally skipped the fried rice this time… and NO HIVES!!!
It’s not a fancy place by any means, parking is free and packed, no wi-fi…but stick to the seafood… the food is tasty… definitely made my 2500 calories in one sitting. I have one more week to be in the college park area… yeah I’ll maybe hit this place one more time…

Cheap Eats… and Great Price… is all I can say! This place is so under-​rated and not given its props!
This place has it all… Lots of Food variety at Cheap Prices!
I went there for the lunch buffet. All you can eat for $ 6.95, including drinks. Everything was delicious, especially the beef/​spring onions dish, the spicy chicken and bacon wrapped in crab sticks! LOL! Yeah I know… bacon wrapped crab sticks sound a little funny but believe it or not… with your eyes close you could not tell the difference from this and actually scallops. The buffet offered lots of variety… even chicken nuggets, fried plantains, Chinese doughnuts, and even a ice cream machine. I normally don’t give mad props to a buffet restaurant but this place…10 stars and thumbs up for lunch. Overall, the ambiance was left to be desired, but the food was great for the price! If you can get pass this (the ambiance), you will be fine.
NOTE TO SELF… DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT THERE FOR LUNCH, UNLESS YOU HAVE THE DAY OFF! I ate so much food there and was completely comatose-​useless at work for the remainder of the afternoon; because the food was SoooooooSSSSOoooo Delicious and I ate too much!!! :-)

Dark meat nuggets. YUM!
Takes you back to your childhood
Like picking your nose
Usually when I go to China Buffet, I like to have some chicken nuggets and sweet and sour sauce for dessert. The nuggets were generally ok and reminded me of those microwaveable ones you’d get as a kid — for some of us, as college students. When we went this past week however, I was shocked! Behold! Dark meat McNuggets! (
) The nuggets had the same batter as McNuggets, the same boot shapes, and even some cartilage. Soooo good! I was pretty full from all the greasy Chinese food but I made sure to down at least 15 McNuggets. Mix 1 part ketchup w/​1 part sweet & sour sauce for a makeshift mumbo sauce.
If you wailed when McDonald’s decided to offer only white meat McNuggets, head over to China Buffet and gorge yourself on 40 pieces of greasy, cartilage-​filled, dark meat goodness. And remember, half the fun is picking out the dark meat from the white meat.
To reiterate a couple points:
— AYCE for $ 9 dinner, $ 7 lunch
— Decent American Chinese food for the price
— Vultures encircle the buffet waiting for a fresh batch of crab legs. Don’t be shy — grab the whole pan when they come out. If you don’t, someone else will.
— People still pick at the seafood combination resulting in a vegetables in seafood sauce combination.
— The one slightly butch waitress will thank every single person who leaves the restaurant no matter where she is at the time.